FLC’s Thinking Out Loud

My cousin was talking to me about this coming Thanksgiving celebrations. It is tradition in our family to celebrate it at the ancestral house. The house has a big garden so we can all gather there and celebrate Thanksgiving together. It is a must that we attend. Or we will never hear the end of it from our elders.

My cousin’s problem is that he wants to celebrate it at his girlfriend’s house. I can understand him. It would be a great time for his girl’s parents to get to know him better. It is a perfect time to spend with his future in-laws. But well, it is actually a bad time for him to be absent in a family gathering. So he is torn. He already bought a Thanksgiving gift basket he will be giving his girlfriend’s parents.

I told him that he can probably spend the earlier part of the day at his girlfriend’s house and just pop in at the family gathering by dinner time, when every one is surely present. That way, he will be able to spend the day with people he loves. Am I right?

Now, you might be looking for a great Thanksgiving gift basket like what my cousin found. Just go to www.1800Flowers.com and you will find an assortment there.

I bet your friend or someone close to you would get a kick out of receiving talking watches. It will be a unique gift, something others won’t surely think of giving. Thanks to a couple of my friends who love sending me text messages of gift ideas. I also got this idea of giving out cut-out paintings. Another unique idea from a friend of mine who does it. Imagine looking at a supposedly painting but finding out you are actually looking at cut-outs formed a certain way. Unique!

My older cousin, Aya, has an adopted son, Miko. He is now seven years old. And do you what his current favorite? NFL! His pajamas are nfl jerseys that my cousin bought online at NFL Uniform Set. She had it brought home by another cousin of ours who lives abroad. When Aya bought it, she knew that Miko will be thrilled about it. And he was. Still is actually. He insists on always wearing his pajamas to bed. No matter how tired and sleepy Miko is, he will wake up and put on his jersey. The little kid is crazy about NFL, I tell you.

I remember when Aya was so depressed before she adopted Miko. She just learned that she is not capable of reproduction. She has problems with her ovaries and that will prevent her from being pregnant. A year after she knew that, her boyfriend broke up with her and she went through one year of depression. Until she saw Miko. He is a friend’s househelp’s son. The househelp does not want anything to do with the baby, fearing the wrath of her parents. So she gave up Miko for adoption. And Aya became his mother. You should see the transformation in my cousin. It was truly a blessing.

I have been missing my high school friends so much these days. My high school friends are the ones that really stuck with me through thick and thin. They were with me through all the tough times in my life. We normally see each other from time to time but because a number of my friends got married, gave birth, and relocated, we were not able to meet as often as before. So I am thinking of getting us together, a simple dinner party, where we can catch up on the events that happened in our lives.

Since my friend, Rob, lives in a condo unit that is in the middle of the cities we all live in, I thought of using his place for the dinner party. He is okay with the idea. He is quite excited about it, in fact, because he could now show off his newly renovated unit plus he can show his new born son to all of us. I am also thrilled with the idea of seeing my godson.

There is only one problem that I have. I want the dinner party to be a simple one yet I don’t want it to be the usual one that we have. I want it to be extra special, what with the new born kids to be in attendance plus the better halves. Any ideas? I believe Celebrations.com has a lot of party ideas for a dinner party for me. I will go check it out now.

What would you suggest as a great party idea for an engagement party? Care to help me come up with one?

You see, my best friend just got engaged last week. Since I will be the maid of honor, I am tasked to come up with a great party idea. It is hard for me since I don’t really plan these sort of parties. If it’s birthdays, I would have come up with a lot. This is really a challenge to me because I have never attended an engagement party yet. I know what to prepare when it comes to shower parties. I even helped a guy friend of mine when he was tasked to take care of his friend’s stag party. But an engagement party? Now, that is entirely new to me. Because of this, it would be a really big help if I can get some professional advice.

Thank goodness there’s Celebrations.com, a web site put up to dish out party ideas and suggestions for people who need it. And I definitely need some suggestions right now. So please excuse me as I head on over to Celebrations.com now. I will be asking for help from expert party planners. You can also visit Celebrations.com if you need some party ideas yourself.